Photographs
by Blooregard Q. Kazoo
Summary: Queen Serenity finds an old box under Chibi Usa's bed. And inside this box is an old photograph of an old friend long forgotten.


One of the many "Usagi remembers Naru" plots. I did a search when I originally came up with the idea, assuming that I was being creative. I guess not! So I tried to make this one a little different. Tell me if I was successful! _Disclaimer: Sailor Moon is copyrighted material. This story is in no way affiliated with its owners.  
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**PHOTOGRAPHS**

**A**

**One-Shot**

**By**

**Blooregard Q Kazoo**

At first, she was concerned by her daughter's abnormal growth pattern. She, the sailor senshi, and her husband were born to the old world where people lived less than 100 years. Chibi Usa was part of Crystal Tokyo's new generation. Children born within the same year would prove to be a medical mystery. She brushed aside the problem – her daugher's body must be dealing with it's longer life expectancy, stretching out the years to make each stage of life equal. Tack a few years onto her infant stage… a few years onto her toddler stage… and a few more years onto her childhood. It would not be long now, the queen mused, before her Chibi Usa would finally reach adolescence. The signs were already running rampant throughout her wardrobe and bedroom.

The girl preferred more _sophisticated _clothing now. Less ribbons and no more lace trimming the hems of her skirts. Jewelry, on more than one occasion, sparkled after being touched by a random beam of light. And she could have sworn her daughter's lips were a little shinier than usual.

Queen Serenity mused this while standing in the middle of her daughter's room.

But how had she gotten there?

Oh, yes.

She was walking down the hallways. Peace meant her duties as Queen amounted to little more than signing documents and giving out grants to fund public projects. The occasional appearance at functions let the public know that she was alive and well… and that she was doing more than sitting on her throne all day, twiddling her thumbs. The monthly meeting on the status of Crystal Tokyo took a break for lunch. She had one hour of time to herself, and she had no idea what to do. She decided, instead of staying in the confines of her throne room, to walk around.

She let her feet take over, allowing her brain to wander while her legs carried her to where they wished to go. She walked down a hallway that lead to her daughter's room. Now that Chibi Usa was growing older in body as well as mind, she did not like her mother entering her room. The Queen did not mind, however, because Chibi Usa had nothing to hide. Serenity had the same qualms when she was Chibi Usa's age.

How the room had changed.

Pink was still her color of choice, but the walls were plastered with posters of the newest boy bands. Her clothing was strewn across the room, near the vicinity of the mirror. The cloths were probably not dirty - she had, more than likely, just been trying to find the right outfit. This new concern with her physical appearance was just another stage in aging. The last time she poked her head through the doorframe, she caught Chibi Usa standing in front of the mirror, turning from side to side, admiring the contours of her new dress. When Chibi Usa turned around, to see how the dress from a different angle, she spied her mother. A scarlet-faced Chibi Usa ordered her mother to knock before entering.

The room was a mess. Queen Serenity stepped over the piles of clothing, makeup, jewelry, and CDs. There was a relatively clear spot in the center of the room where she sat down. Her daughter was no where to be found, lately. She finally spent time with friends outside the palace. Something happened to her daughter while she was away, traveling through time. Something that changed her personality - in a good way, of course. She no longer spent her time hiding in the alcoves of the enormous Crystal Palace, but opted for a change of scenery; nature and other people. While Queen Serenity was happy that her daughter had made new friends, she was sad that she would no longer see her Chibi Usa quite as often.

So she would sit in her daughter's room for a moment, savoring the aura that Chibi Usa had left behind.

Her eyes wandered, taking in every minute detail. The unmade bed, and how the only clothes hanging in the closet were outfits she had not worn in years – probably too "childish." Several stuffed animals were shoved underneath the bed. She reached for a stuffed rabbit, her namesake. As she pulled it forward, she caught sight of a box.

And the box was _cardboard_ - a material no longer found in this futuristic age. Advancements in plastics and other man-made material left something so flimsy obsolete. Where had _cardboard_ come from?

Her curiosity overstepped logic. Chibi Usa would be mad when she found things out of order; especially a box located under the bed - under the bed represents secrecy.

She opened it.

Light hit the glossy finish of numerous photographs. Ami, Rei, Makoto, Minako… they were all in there. So were her parents, her brother, schoolmates. People she learned to forget. Their mortality presented so many problems. She would never forget looking into her brothers eyes on his 80th birthday – his wrinkled, sunken features – and the tears he shed when he told her, "You still look so beautiful, Sis." But as the years went by, she thought differently. She trained herself to believe that some sacrifices had to be made in order to ensure the peaceful existence she was destined to maintain. You could not have a completely new world while the old world still lingered.

People of her own childhood had their minds on other things - money, power, and material goods. This new Tokyo - crystalline, pure - was once a hub for industry and capitalism, of greed and placing one's self before others. Once the old population died and the new generation, with its longer life expectancy, emerged the city turned a new leaf as a center for peace and tranquility.

She fanned some of the photos like a hand of cards, taking in all the memories. One photo stuck to the back of another, and she gently pulled it free.

_A green bow behind a head of unruly, red-brown hair._

_Naru._

Suddenly, the sadness she felt for her daughter's aging seemed obsolete. Chibi Usa was absent more often, but she still lived in the palace, and she still ate her meals with her family, and she still said "good night" to her parents before she went to bed. Naru, however, was long gone, after she had already been forgotten.

_Abandoned_, even?

Yes, that seemed more like it.

Naru was _normal_. Usagi's senshi friends were just like herself, and they _understood_. Naru could never understand the burden of maintaining the world's safety, and the unrelenting strain of living up to her destiny's expectations. So she… forgot… about Naru. She had better, more exciting friends.

It was the warmth of her tears that made her realize she started to cry. She tried to hold back the choking sobs, but the pain in her throat and the blurred vision was too much to bare – she released the damns, and buried her face in her palms. She never cried this hard for her relatives - not even her mother - when they passed away. She believed _closure_ had something to do with it. When they noticed Usagi's lack of aging, she sat them down, frowning and scared of rejection, and told them her story. Somehow her mother had already known… Before Usagi could get any further than, "I have a secret," her mother interjected, "I know you're Sailor Moon, Sweetheart. I think I've always known."

"Mommy…?"

Chibi Usa stood in the threshold, tentative fingers wrapped around the frame. Even though it was Chibi Usa's room, she felt as though she were intruding upon something. When Queen Serenity rose to her feet, Chibi Usa moved out of the doorway, still keeping a fixed gaze. Serenity's steps were slow and shaky, and she still had one hand over her mouth, hiccupping from the irregular breathing.

"I have… I have to go back to my meeting."

Chibi Usa continued to stare as her mother made her way down the halls, squinting when her eyes caught the shiny gloss of a photograph. The child crouched where her mother once sat, and fanned the photos out, remembering each moment clearly.

"One's missing," she whispered.


End file.
